[Cook] Orecchiette with Sausage and Roasted Peppers

Another recipe from Everyday Food: Great Food Fast. I always bought roasted peppers in a jar before. Never knew roasting your own peppers was that easy. And it tasted sooooo much better than the jar ones. Also it's a lot cheaper to make your own. I will always make my own roasted pepper from now on. This pasta recipe is so easy to make. It's simple, but full of flavor. The savory and rich sausage goes so well with sweet roasted pepper.


Orecchiette with Sausage and Roasted Peppers

Freshly roasted peppers give this hearty pasta a smoky taste. If you like, you can use jarred peppers, thinly sliced, instead of making your own, and skip step 1. To skin the peppers, char them and then cover tightly with plastic wrap. This will produce steam and make the skins come off easily.

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Yield Serves: 6




Ingredients

2 medium red bell peppers, four flat sides sliced off core, ribs and seeds discarded
2 medium yellow bell peppers, four flat sides sliced off core, ribs and seeds discarded
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 pound orecchiette or other short pasta
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 pound sweet Italian sausage, removed from casings
1 tablespoon butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

(Note: Since red bell peppers were on sale, and yellow bell peppers cost 3 times as much, I just used 4 red bell peppers. Also orecchiette pasta was pricey, so I substitute with shells pasta.)



Prep

(A) Sliced each peppers into 4 flat sides and discarded seeds;
(B) Removed sausage from casing;
(C) Cut butter into small pieces;
(D) Grated Parmesan cheese.



Directions

(1) Heat broiler. Place peppers (A), skin side up, on a foil-lined baking sheet; broil 4 inches from heat until charred, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap; steam 2 to 3 minutes.



(2) Using a paper towel, rub off pepper skins, reserving any juices in bowl. Thinly slice peppers crosswise into 1/4-inch strips; return to bowl. Set aside.



(3) In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until al dente, according to package instructions. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup pasta water.



(4) Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook sausage (B), breaking it up with a spoon, until browned, 7 to 10 minutes. Add roasted peppers; cook until heated through.

(5) Transfer sausage mixture to bowl; add pasta, butter (C), reserved pasta water, and Parmesan (D). Season with salt and pepper. Toss to combine.